In recent years, panelist research efforts included installing metering hardware in qualified households that fit one or more demographics of interest. In some cases, the metering hardware is capable of determining whether a media presentation device (such as a television set) is powered on and tuned to a particular station via a hardwired connection from the media presentation device to the meter. In other cases, the metering hardware is capable of determining which household member is exposed to a particular portion of media via one or more button presses on a People Meter by the household member near the television.